Lubricant



Patented Sept. 21, 1948 LUBRICANT Paul H. CarnelLBartlesville, Okla,assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a-corporation-of Delaware NoDrawing. Application December .3, 1945.,

SerialNo. 632,614

This invention relates to lubricants. In one of its more specificaspects it relates to lubricants for use in lubricating valves incertain corrosive acid service.

One object of my invention is to provide a lubricant for use in thelubrication of valves in corrosive :acid service.

' "'Another object of my invention is to provide a lubricant for use inthe lubrication of valves in hydrofluoric acid and hydrochloric acidservices.

EStilleoth'er objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art from a careful study of the following detaileddisclosure.

.itn carrying out the above objects I have found that a chlorinated=parafiin wax containing an inert, solid lubricant can be manufacturedlu -such a manner and possesses chemical and physical properties whichpermit its successful use for the lubrication of valves in systemsemploying acids and acidic material, such as hydrofluoric acid andhydrochloric acid.

I have found that upon chlorinating a paraffin wax until it containsover 40 per cent by weight of chlorine, for example about 42 per cent,and incorporating in this chlorinated material graphite or asbestos thatan excellent valve lubricant results. Most valve lubricants, and in factsubstantially all valve lubricants now commercially available, fail insuch service as hereinbefore mentioned. In testing out many commerciallyavailable so called acid resistant lubricants it is only a matter oftime until these lubricants fail. By failure of a valve lubricant ismeant that the lubricant may fail to seal the valve against leakage, mayfreeze the valve in either an open or closed position, or may be reactedupon and destroyed by the corrosive action of the material in process.

My chlorinated wax composition I have found overcomes all thesedifliculties.

A satisfactory valve lubricant may be prepared as follows:

290 grams of a paraflin wax having a meltin point between 125 and 130 F.was chlorinated until the chlorinated material weighed about 500 grams.This chlorinated material possessed a viscosity of approximately 25poises at 25 C.. a specific gravity of 1.17 and had an empirical formulaof C2sH45C17. To this chlorinated product was added 480 grams ofpowdered graphite and the ingredients were well mixed with vigorousstirring until the composition was uniform throughout.

This composition was found to be highly re- 6 Claims. (01. 252-28)sis'tant to acids, especially aqueous and anhydrous hydrofluoric acidand aqueous and anhydroushydrochlori'c acid. The lubricant does notdisintegrate nor form an 'undesirable hard or gummy material whencontactedwith any of these normally corrosive materials.

The lubricant composition preparedas above described was-"tested'asfollowsf Clontactv Appearance of Testing Agent (Excess) Time, Greasedkt End Hours of Contact per cent Aqueous HF 15 Unchanged.Commercial-Anhydrous HF 15 Do. 38 percent Aqueous H01... 15 P0.

Four commercial greases recommended for lubrication of valves used inhydrofluoric acidhydrocarbon service were tested for comparison purposeswith an excess of commercial anhydrous hydrofluoric acid. The resultsare as follows:

Appearance After 5 Minutes in Excess Commercial commercially availablefor hydrofluoric acid and hydrochloric acid services. My lubricant doesnot dissolve in these acids and does not react with them in any manneras to form undesirable hard or gummy products.

Such a lubricant as I herein disclose serves exceptionally well tolubricate stopcock type or plug valves in hydrofluoric acid alkylationservice that are exposed to highly acidic mixtures.

Under certain conditions the graphite or asbestos impregnating agent maybe omitted from the chlorinated wax. The chlorinated wax by itself is arelatively thick and viscous composition, and

for many uses, I prefer to increase the body thereof or to improve itslubrication properties by the addition of graphite or asbestos.

The impregnation of graphite or asbestos into the chlorinated wax doesnot alter the chemical properties of the base material; hence thechlorinated wax alone will possess the same properwell be considered asthe determining factor tor the ratio of impregnating agent tochlorinated wax.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that 1 my lubricant maybe used in services not herein specifically mentioned, but which dependupon the properties of the composition as 'herein'disclosed.

Having disclosed by invention, I claim:

1. A valve lubricant composition comprising the following ingredients inapproximately the, proportions stated, 51% of a chlorinated paraffin waxprepared from paramn wax. having a melting. point between approximately.125 and 130 Rand containing about 42% chlorine by weight, and 49%graphite.

2. A valve lubricant composition comprising the following ingredients,in approximately the proportions stated, 51% of a chlorinated paraffinwax prepared fromparafiin wax having a melting point betweenapproximately 125 and 130 F. and-containing about 42% by weight ofchlorine, and 49% of a solid thickening agent possessinglubricatingproperties selected from the group-consisting of graphite and asbestos.

3. The valve lubricant composition of claim 2 wherein the solidthickening agent is asbestos.

4. A composition for the lubrication of valves used in service where anacid selected from the group consisting of HC] and HF is in processconsisting of a chlorinated paraffin wax prepared from a parafiin waxhaving a melting point between approximately 125 and 130 F. andcontaining: about;42% by weight of chlorine, and sufficient solidthickening agent selected from the group consisting of graphite andasbestos to impart a desired consistency to the lubricant composition toeffectively seal valves lubricated with said composition against leakagewhen used in said service.

5. The composition of claim 4 wherein the solid thickening agent isgraphite.

6. The composition of claim 4 wherein the solid thickening agent isasbestos.

PAUL H. C'ARNELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the filo ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Large Dec. 17,1945 OTHER REFERENCES Chlorafin,Pamphlet of Hercules Powder 0 0., Wilmington 99, Del., pub. April 1944,pages 1, 2,

3, 5, and 6.

